DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG | Naima Lett
READY FOR YES?! – DAY 15 of 40 (LENT)

Congrats, Fam! We’re 15 days in. Only 25 to go! Can you believe it?! We’ve been praying and fasting and saturating ourselves in God’s word, and He’s been moving and shaking and meeting us where we are.

Yesterday, we put “first things first” and acknowledged who God is, apologized for our offenses, and asked for success, based on His promises (Nehemiah 1).

Today’s question is: Are we ready for the Yes?!

When God says, “Yes!” to whatever we’re asking, are we ready? Is the plan in place?
When He rolls out the red carpet, do we already have the dress and tux ready to go? Or are we scrambling to figure out what’s next?

Today we see how important preparation is.
Let’s look at the second chapter of Nehemiah.
When God said, “Yes”, Nehemiah was “ret to go”!

Day 15:
Click here to read: NEHEMIAH 2: 2-9

So, Nehemiah has spent days praying and fasting, and now he’s back to work under the king. He’s never been sad in the king’s presence before, but on this day, he can’t hide his grief. He is so distraught over the news that Jerusalem is in ruins. His heart is broken for his people.

Side note: What breaks our hearts?
If we could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
If we could fight for one people, who would we fight for?
If we are trying to figure out our purpose and why we are on this earth, figuring out the answer to these questions will give us a HUGE hint! Our purpose is usually for the benefit of others.

OK, back to the story: The king gives Nehemiah an open door.
I love verse 2-3, Nehemiah says, “I was VERY MUCH AFRAID, but I said to the king…”

Don’t you love that?
The bible is so real. These are real people going through real feelings in real scenarios. Even after Nehemiah has spent time fasting and praying, and he has asked God for success with the king, as he stands before the king to ask, fear is ever present. BUT HE ASKS ANYWAY!

Nehemiah does not allow fear to stop him from moving forward. He acknowledges the fear and keeps it moving. That encourages me so much.

Can I be candid?

We’ve got a God-sized agenda out here in the Hills. I mean, the vision I see is so extraordinary that there are days when fear could literally paralyze me. My prayer usually sounds a little different than Nehemiah’s. I’m usually like, “Today, Lord, I want to hit I-405 and run in the opposite direction, but please help me put one foot in front of the other and just do the next thing.” Seriously.

So, I’m encouraged. You be encouraged too. Fear does not stop our progress.

The king asks Nehemiah, “What do you want?”
Nehemiah then (verse 4-5) prays to God and answers the king, ‘Send me to rebuild my city.’

Nehemiah is praying to God and talking to the king at the same time. Anybody else been there? This is really how it goes down!

Now, here comes the biggie, the king wants the PLAN! How long will it take? When will you get back? Logistics. The king assumes that if Nehemiah is bold enough to ask to go rebuild a city, he must already have a plan, right?!

Do we already have our plan in place?

When God gives us favor with the king, president, board chair, producer, director, casting director, boss, principal, gatekeeper, whoever it is that has resources we need… is our plan clear? Can we articulate exactly what we need?

Nehemiah was ready for his YES!

While Nehemiah had been fasting and praying, he was also making plans. Look at verses 7-9. Nehemiah asks the king for specific resources and specific people and letters for this and letters for that. This brother lays things out like bam, bam, bam. He walks away from the king with a whole calvary.

Preparation, fam, is so crucial.

When God says, YES, to whatever we are seeking over this 40-day period leading up to Easter, are we prepared? Have we thought through the logistics? Do we know exactly what we need to accomplish the goal? When God allows us access to the king and the king asks, “What do you want? What will it take?”, what will our answer be?

Let’s spend some time today refining.
What are we asking of the God of heaven?
What do we want to rebuild? What are the resources? Who are the people?
Let’s pray over the whole kit and caboodle.
And let’s pray that when God says, YES, we are ready to go!

On the verge of the extraordinary,
Naima

PRAYER:
1) Confession & Repentance – Let’s confess our wrongs and ask forgiveness
2) Complete transparency – Let our guard down and talk to God about our lives.
3) Listen – Let’s quiet and listen to God’s Spirit re: the scriptures, etc.
4) Intercession for others – Let’s pray for our family, friends, coworkers, church, etc.